Generally described, computing devices utilize a communication network, or a series of communication networks, to exchange data. Companies and organizations operate computer networks that interconnect a number of computing devices to support operations or provide services to third parties. The computing systems can be located in a single geographic location or located in multiple, distinct geographic locations (e.g., interconnected via private or public communication networks). Specifically, data centers or data processing centers, herein generally referred to as “data centers,” may include a number of interconnected computing systems to provide computing resources to users of the data center. The data centers may be private data centers operated on behalf of an organization or public data centers operated on behalf, or for the benefit of, the general public.
In some instances, the rate at which data can be transmitted over a communication network from a first device to a second device depends on the intermediary devices on the communication network over which the data is passed. The time required to transmit the data between intermediary devices can vary greatly based on the computing resources available to and the configuration of the intermediary devices. In public networks, such as the Internet, intermediary devices are often not under control of either the sending device or receiving device. Moreover, intermediary devices within public networks often operate under pre-established protocols that cannot be easily modified by sending and receiving devices.
In some instances, rapid transmission of information can be facilitated by distributed, interconnected networks of data centers. Illustratively, service providers or content creators (such as businesses, artists, media distribution services, etc.) can employ interconnected data centers, sometimes referred to as “content delivery networks” (CDNs), to deliver content (such as web sites, web content, or other digital data) or provide other services to users or clients. The content may be replicated or distributed among the data centers according to existing routing and addressing technologies, thereby enabling multiple data centers associated with the CDN to provide similar or identical content to client computing devices. In some instances, each data center of a CDN, or any location where it may have computing resources, may be referred to as a point-of-presence (“POP”). A CDN can maintain POPs over a wide area (or worldwide) in an attempt to ensure that a CDN is nearby to any requesting device. This minimizes the number of intermediary devices on public networks that must be utilized when transmitted content from the CDN to the client.
While useful in some instances, the use of CDNs is not necessarily applicable in all data transfers. For example, point-to-point transmission of information that is not intended to be replicated (e.g., transmission of data between a first specific device and a second specific device) generally does not benefit from existing CDN systems. Thus, these data transmissions often utilize conventional techniques (e.g., transmission via public intermediary devices), which results in highly variable, and often decreased, data transmission rates.